binary solo said:
That's a false comparison though. The idea is equal pay for work of equal value. Why are professions dominated by men still paid more than professions that are dominated by women even when both professions are more or less the same in terms of qualification and skill? Very few people argue that street cleaner as a career is of equal value to society as surgeon. Though one might also argue that the average person benefits more over their lifetime from street cleaners and garbage collectors (sanitation workers in general) than they do from surgeons. After all, public sanitation has done more to exend the average lifespan of people and reduce the number of days of lost productivity from illness than surgeons. Hence sanitation workers are more beneficial to society than surgeons. Ref Hitchhikers Guide on the essential utility of sanitation workers, as opposed to the continued uselessness of account executives and marketing analysts. |
Men aren't paid higher due to being men as feminists say, it is because they choose professions that have higher pay. Who said both professions are of the same skill and qualification? In general women prefer arts while men go for science and both go in big numbers to pursue commerce. Science requires more reasoning, logic and skill and a lot more hard work than arts, so professions in this field pay more. If women chose sciences in large numbers like men, the wage gap wouldn't exist.
Brain surgeons aren't useful for everyone, but they are highly specialised, payed a lot to study their subjects in college and have studied hard to be where they are. The same is not true for street cleaners. If what you said was right, people simply wouldn't opt for going into medical fields when hey can earn the same by cleaning streets. Then when a person would require a brain surgeon, where would they find one? Same is true for all specialised fields. The higher income in these fields brings hard working people to them.
